The present invention concerns a safety device for the railroad industry.
With the signing of the Rail Safety Improvement Act, in October 2008, the railroad industry will need to be “Positive Train Control” compliant throughout the United States by 2015.
The term “Positive Train Control” (PTC) means that a system must be designed to prevent: train to train collisions; over speed derailments; incursions into established work zone limits; and movement of a train through a switch left in the improper position.
To satisfy these requirements, a number of new types of devices are needed to provide complete PTC systems.
In particular, there is a need for a device to capable report to an on-board locomotive subsystem the status of a wayside signal supplied to a wayside signal lamp. The wayside signal allows the determination whether the locomotive movement is in agreement with the condition of the railroad. The report of the status of this wayside signal is necessary to satisfy the fundamental requirements of any PTC solution.